Pleasantville residents voting tomorrow will help decide whether lawmakers should forfeit their pensions after being convicted of a felony.<\/p>\n
Sheldon Silver<\/a>, former State Assembly Speaker, and Dean Skelos, Former State Senate Majority Leader, were both convicted of felonies, but kept their pensions.<\/p>\n More than 15 convicted ex-lawmakers with over $600,000 in their pensions would be unaffected by the proposition, because it would only affect those that have been convicted of a job-related crime occurring on or after January 18, 2018.<\/p>\n Some residents in Pleasantville believe that this level of corruption is very important to consider during the elections because it\u2019s a matter of their tax dollars.<\/p>\n \u201cI like knowing exactly where my money is going, and I don\u2019t want it going in to the pockets of people who are taking advantage of the government,\u201d said Jesus Alvarez.<\/p>\n Other residents are not so sure how important this proposal is, and are unsure if it is the best way to get rid of corruption.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the surface it seems like an obvious yes in the sense that it was designed to contain corruption in government officials, but I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m convinced that it will be effective in doing so,\u201d said Nicole Asquith, Pleasantville Village Board Trustee Member.<\/p>\n Asquith said that stopping lawmakers from receiving pensions won\u2019t have a big enough impact on the issue of corruption, and believes that the best way to acknowledge and fix corruption is by voting yes to a constitutional convention<\/a> even though we haven\u2019t had one since 1938.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a controversial opinion in Pleasantville, but I believe that we should vote yes to a constitutional convention if we want to make serious changes and permanently end corruption,\u201d said Asquith.<\/p>\n\n